Popovich dusts off team drama, moves on

HOUSTON — Like a missed shot or an errant pass in the course of a game, the Spurs will move on from the spate of off-court incidents that have embroiled the club in controversy, real and perceived, for the past two weeks.

Others may have found the incidents dramatic, but not Spurs coach Gregg Popovich or his players.

“It’s drama to other people, but things happen, and we move on,” Popovich said after his team’s morning shootaround before the Spurs’ 134-126 overtime victory over the Rockets. “We don’t even discuss it. Nobody even talks about it.

“We don’t worry about any of it. I don’t bring it up. Players don’t bring it up. It’s like when you’re in a game. You make a mistake, and you move on. You miss a shot, and you move on. Something off the court happens, and you move on.”

The latest episode of off-court drama was a weekend Twitter posting by forward Stephen Jackson that elicited a $25,000 fine imposed jointly by the Spurs and the NBA.

The fine, announced Sunday night, came on the heels of the $250,000 fine imposed Nov. 30 by Commissioner David Stern for Popovich’s decision to send Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker and Danny Green to San Antonio from Orlando rather than take them to Miami for a nationally televised Nov. 29 game against the Heat. There was also a Halloween party photo of Duncan and Parker holding toy guns to the head of a partygoer dressed as NBA referee Joey Crawford that circulated widely on the Internet.

No disciplinary action was taken relative to the photo. Crawford was lead referee in Saturday’s game in Charlotte.

Team captain Duncan agreed Jackson made a mistake when he posted a tweet deemed hostile towards Oklahoma City forward Serge Ibaka after an altercation involving Ibaka and Jackson’s friend and former Pacers teammate, Metta World Peace, in Friday’s Thunder-Lakers game.

“?‘Jack’ understands he made a mistake with that, and we move on,” Duncan said. “It is what it is. He’s been disciplined, and it’s behind us now.”

If it’s not broken … : When DeJuan Blair was able to suit up after sitting out the game in Charlotte with a slightly sprained left ankle, Popovich didn’t hesitate to go back to the starting lineup he has used the most since small forwards Kawhi Leonard and Jackson left the lineup with injuries. And why not?

The starting lineup of Blair, Duncan, Green, Parker and Gary Neal was 7-0 heading into the game and now is 8-0.